Yesterday my daughter competed at the Cross Country State Championships. She has had a good season placing 2nd individually at Regions last week, and a 1st as a team. It has been a great experience watching the team work together. Individual wins are celebrated but at the end of the meet its what the team did. What those 7 girls together accomplished. Its interesting before the beginning of any competition I think about placements . "Well top 10 would be incredible, top 15 would be wonderful and top 20 would be great." She ran in 7th & 8th position most of the race and ended up 24th. Not her best race, but also not her worst. Luckily I had to run back to the office right as she crossed the finish line. I knew she would be disappointed and I was lucky to have some time to gather my thoughts. I have learned that the disappointment is at its peak on the other side of the finish line, and surprisingly a big win also peaks at that same moment. The disappointment and jubilation ware off at about the same rate and have about the same shelf life. I am so proud of my daughter for doing Cross Country. She only tried running after being cut from various teams she had tried out for her freshman year. We often think what a lucky break it was to not get the call back, have your number read, or hear your name called. Again that moment was the worst part. Failure and discouragement always leads to self discovery, she discover she had a love & talent for running and most important she learned to try, try again. She has one more year of High school sports "I would be over the moon with a top 5 finish, wild with joy with a top 10, and feel'n fine with a top 20."
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